1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a miniature electrical connector, and particularly to a miniature plug electrical connector used in a cellular phone.
2. The Prior Art
A cellular phone is equipped with a 15-position plug connector for enabling the cellular phone to connect with an auxiliary electrical device such as a battery charger.
FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional electrical connector 5. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a housing 50 insert molded with a blank contact 51, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the conventional connector 5.
To produce the connector 5, a metal sheet is stamped to form the blank contact 51 including fifteen contacts 52 connecting with a front carrier 521 via front V-cuts 522 and a rear carrier 526 via rear V-cuts 525. The front carrier 521 is flush with contact portions 523 of the contacts 52. The blank contact 51 is then brought into a mold (not shown) for insert molding the housing 50 thereon. The housing 50 includes a wall 502 horizontally projecting from a front face 501 thereof to fixedly support the contact portions 523 of the contacts 52 thereon. Tail portions 524 of the contacts 52 extend behind and below a bottom face 503 of the housing 50. Thereafter, the front and rear carriers 521, 526 are bent away from the contacts 52 along the V-cuts 522, 525, respectively. The removal of the front and rear carriers 521, 526 causes front and rear end edges (not labeled) of the contacts 52 to be exposed to air. Since these end edges are not covered by protective coating, humidity and foreign particles may lead to erosion thereof. For the rear end edge, the problem is not so serious since it is located inside the cellular phone and is protected by solder soldering the tail portions 524 to a printed circuit board using Surface Mounting Technology (SMT). However, such a problem can seriously affect the front end edge which is exposed to an outside of the phone without any protection. When the front end edge becomes eroded, the contact portion 523 of the contact 52 has an inferior electrical characteristic which adversely affects signal communication between the connector 5 and a mated connector (not shown).
Furthermore, referring specifically to FIG. 6, in the conventional connector 5, an electromagnetic protecting and grounding shield 53 is mounted to the housing 50 and has retentive tabs 531 downwardly extending toward the housing 50 to abut the front face 501 thereof thereby resisting a pull force acting on the housing 50 when a mating connector is withdrawn from the connector 5. However, such a design cannot effectively resist a push force during insertion of the mating connector into the connector 5, resulting in a large portion of the push force being exerted on the connection between the tail portions 524 of the contacts 52 and the printed circuit board. After a period of use of the connector, the push force may cause the tail portions 52 to separate from the printed circuit board thereby electrically disconnecting the connector 5 from the cellular phone.
Hence, an improved connector is needed to eliminate the above mentioned defects of the current connector.